Magnetically-operated device.



C. H. RIPPL.

MAGNETlCALLY OPERATED DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I8, 1913.

Patented June 22, 1915.

I WZZ INVENTOR QMW/i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. RIIPL, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRICCONTROLLER AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATIONOF OHIO.

MAGNETICALLY-OPERATED DEVICE.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES H. RIPPL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements inMagnetically-Operated Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to magnetically-operated devices, particularlythose in which the armature of the magnet oscillates about a pivot.

The objects of my invention are to secure intimate contact of thearmature with the poles of an electro-inagnet, to prevent the humming orchattering of the armature, and to increase the holding power of themagnet.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation ofmy improved magnet in connection with an electric switch. Fig. 2 is aside elevation, partly in section, and Fig. 3 is a cross section of thearmature taken through the supporting pin and bearing bolts. Fig. l is asection on the line IV-IV, Fig.1, and Fig 5 is a section on the lineV--V, Fig. 1.

On the support 1, which is preferably of insulating material, is mounteda U-shaped core 2 made up of laminations vertically arranged. Theselaminations are held toether in some suitable way, but I preferably weldthem together, or weld them to strips 3 at the back of the magnet. Themagnet may be fastened to the support 1 by means of the bolts 4 whichpass through the strips 3. The energizing winding 5 is shown surroundingone leg of the core 2. The armature 6 is also composed of laminations,and I prefer to hold these together by welding them to a U-shaped holder7, the weld being made on the surface 8 or at the edges 8. Plates 9 and10 are, respectively, also welded to the laminations of the core 2 andthe armature 6, and I prefer to place these in such position that theywill form the engaging surfaces of the magnet poles and the armature.This arrangement protects the laminations from be ng injured by theimpact of the armature against the poles. Eddy currents are set up inthe plates 9 and 10 which produce a flux out. of phase with the flux setup in the laminations by the energizing winding, thereby causing amagnetic pull to exist between the armature andv magnet during thereversal of the current in the Winding.

For sup orting the armature, the holder 7 is provided with 2. lug 7through which the pin 17 passes. The armature 6 is supported by a lever11, which is mounted on the shaft 12. This shaft is supported-bysuitable bearings 13, bolted to the supporting frame 1. The lever 11 hasan arm 14 which engages a stop 15 to limit the opening movement of thearmature.

In order that the armature may have a free movement, so that thesurfacesof the opposing plates 9 and 10 will fully engage each other,the armature is attached to the holder by a pin 17 which extends throughthe two lugs 11 on the front of the lever, and through the lug 7 on thefront of the holder 7. This pin is fastened to one lug l1 by a small pin18. The pin 17 is within the lug 7 rounded or barrel-shaped so that thearmature can oscillate slightly laterally, or in a horizontal direction.The lever 11 has its sides overlapping the sides of the holder 7.Bearing bolts 19 pass through the sides of the lever 11 and the holder 7and bear against the outer surfaces of the armature 6, there being aslight clearance left to allow the free movement of the armature in itslateral oscillation on the pin 17.

I have found that there is less humming and chattering if the armaturein closing is arranged to engage its lower plate 10 with thelower plate9 before the upper plates 9 and 10 engage. In order to bring this aboutI have provided for the pin 17 a vertical oblong hole in the lug 7*, sothat the holder may oscillate to a limited extent vertically about thebearing bolts 19. The said oblong hole is indicated by the dotted lines'20. In order that the armature may oscillate freely laterally, theU-shaped holder 7 is provided with the horizontal slots .21 for thebolts 13, which slots allow the armature to slide upon the bearing bolts19, and permit the rear face of the armature to adjust itself in thesame vertical plane as the poles of the core 2.

When the armature is in the open position, the weight of the armaturecall 6 its rotation in a counter clockwise direction about the bearingbolts 19 to the extent determined by the oblong hole 20. When thewinding 5 is energized, the armature is attracted, and in closingagainst the surfaces of the magnet 2, the lower plate 10 first engagesthe lower plate 9, and as the armature is pulled home the upper plates 9and 10 then engage. The magnetic pull between the magnet and armaturecauses the armature to find its seat with the plates 9 and 10 intimatelyengaging one another, a slight rotation of the armature taking placeabout the bearing bolts 19, and a slight movement also taking placebetween the pin 17 and the oblong hole 20 in the lug 7 Since the lowerplates 9 and 10 first engage, there will be slightly more wear on theseplates than on the upper plates. Allowance is made for a sufficientrotation about the axis through the bearing bolts 19 to always cause thelower plates to first engage until they are entirely worn away. Theseplates may be made of hard steel, so that the amount of wear will bevery slight. I have found by actual count that a magnet constructed inthis way will operate as many as twelve million times without causingserious wear on the plates and without causing injury to the engagingsurfaces of the magnet or armature. As a matter of fact, the conditionof the surfaces improves as the number of operations increases.

I have shown my improved magnet arranged to operate an electric switch.This switch has a movable member 22 mounted on the portion 12 of theshaft 12. The

I member 22 carries a contact 23, which is arranged to engage arelatively stationary contact 24. The contact 24 is carried by a holder25 pivoted at 26 to a holder 27 the holder being bolted to the support 1by bolts 28. The contact 24 is held in its outermost position by thecompression spring 29, the outward movement being limited by a stop 30.The contact 23 is insulated from the member 22 by an insulating member31.

In order that the contact 23 may have a slight travel in the closingdirection after the movement of the armature 6 has been arrested uponengagement with the core 2, I provide acoupling 32 carried by theportion 12 of the shaft12. This coupling has a slot 33 which is engagedby the projection 34 carried by the lower portion of the magnet holder.This holder is free to revolve on the shaft 12. Then the armature isattracted to the magnet, the projection 34 engages the coupling 32 atthe surface 35, causing the shaft to turn and thereby causing the switchcontacts to engage. When the armature 6 engages the core 2, the shaftand the contact 23 can continue their movement slightly, until theirmomentum is overcome, after which the spring 29 causes the contacts toreturn to the position shown in the drawing.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that myinvention may assume other forms than those shown in the drawings,without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a magnetically-operated device, a magnet with poles, an armaturenormally separated from the poles but adapted to engage the same, apivot for the armature, an energizing winding, and means for causing thearmature to first engage the magnet pole nearest the pivot.

2. In a magnetically-operated device, a core, an energizing winding, anarmature therefor, a perforated lug on the pack of the armature, abarrel-shaped bearing-pin in the perforation in the lug to make thearmature free to move in two or more directions, and means for causingthe same portion of the armature whenever it is operated to first engagethe core.

3. In a magnetically operated device, a magnet pole, an energizingwinding therefor, an armature having a face for engaging said magnetpole, and means for supporting the armature to permit it, when itengages the said pole, to have a rolling motion about an apparentlongitudinal axis eccentric to ghe supporting means of the said armatureace.

4. In a magnetically-operated device, magnet poles, an energizingwinding, an armature normally separated from the poles, and means forcausing the armature whenever it is operated to first engage the samepole of the magnet.

5. In a magnetically-operated device, a core, an energizing winding, anarmature, an axis around which the armature oscillates in its movementtoward the magnet, and a second axis substantially parallel to the firstaxis, around which the armature oscillates to cause the same to engagefirst one edge of the pole and then to engage the surface of the pole.

6. In a magnetically-operated device, a magnet portion, an armatureportion, a magnetizing winding for causing the armature to engage themagnet, two supports for the armature, and means for permitting thearmature to move about a transverse axis passing through one of thesupports and about an apparent longitudinal axis eccentric to bothsupports.

7. In a magnetically-operated device, a magnet and an armature, one ormore plates on the engaging surfaces of the magnet and of the armature,and means for causing certain plates to first engage whenever thearmature is operated.

8. In a magnetically-operated device, a laminated magnetic structure,having stationary and movable portions, magnetic plates on the engagingsurfaces thereof, an energizing winding, and means for causing certainportions of the engaging surfaces first to engage whenever the windingis energized.

9. In an electro-magnetic device, a core, an energizing windingtherefor, an armature, a holder therefor, a carrier for the holder,supports in the carrier for permitting the holder to oscillateindependently of the carrier in the direction of its opening and closingmovements, and a support for the holder for permitting the holder tooscillate transversely of the said movements.

10. In an eleetro-magnetic device, a core, an energizing windingtherefor, an armature, a holder therefor, a carrier for the holder,supports for permitting the holder to oscillate in the direction of itsopening and closing movements, and for permitting the holder tooscillate transversely 'of the said movements, the bearings for thesupports being elongated to permit the holder to have said transverseoscillation.

11. In an electro-magnetic device, an electro-magnet, an armature, aholder therefor, a carrier for the holder having movement toward andfrom the magnet, supporting means for the holder borne by the carrierand arranged substantially parallel to the face of the armature nearestthe magnet,

and a second supporting means for the holder borne by the carrier, andsubstantially parallel with the said first supporting means, there beinga slotted connection for the second supporting means between the carrierand the holder.

12. In an electro-magnetic device, an electro-magnet, an armature,aholder therefor, a carrier for the holder having move ment toward andfrom the magnet, supporting means for the holder borne by the carrierand arranged substantially parallel to the face of the armature nearestthe magnet, and a second supporting means for the holder borne by thecarrier, and substantially parallel with the said first supportingmeans, there being a slotted connection for the second supporting meansbetween the carrier and the holder, and the second supporting meansbeing rounded to permit the holder to oscillate at a right angle to thesaid first supporting means.

Signed at Cleveland, Ohio, this 16th day of April, A. D. 1913.

CHARLES H. RIPPL.

Witnesses:

J. H. HALL, H. M. DIEMER.

